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Panel to ensure better service conditions for teachers

TIRUNELVELI: To ensure better service conditions for the teachers working in self-financing colleges and the self-supporting courses being offered by the aided colleges, the Manonmaniam Sundaranar University has proposed to form a committee exclusively to monitor the injustice, if any.

The committee, to have representatives of the associations of correspondents, principals, college and university employees, MSU teachers, Madurai Kamaraj–Manonmaniam Sundaranar University Teachers’ Association (MUTA), will constantly monitor the service conditions of this group and make appropriate recommendations to the university administration to set things right.

The 30th Senate meeting held here on Wednesday adopted a resolution in this connection and decided to forward it to the Ministry of Higher Education, Government of Tamil Nadu.

Moving the adjournment motion in the Senate meeting, member T. Nagarajan said the service conditions of the faculty members working in the self-financing colleges and the self-supporting courses being offered by the aided colleges were in worst shape as they were working without proper appointment orders, service books, qualification approval by the university, decent salary, leave facilities, maternity leave in case of women, provident fund contribution of the employer, gratuity etc.

“Though these colleges have given an undertaking to the university while applying for affiliation or approval for new courses that better service conditions would be ensured for these teachers, they are working in pathetic situation without any of these facilities.

Paltry sum as salary

“While a regular faculty member is drawing the salary approved by the University Grants Commission, teachers working in self-financing colleges or self-supporting courses with similar educational qualification are getting a paltry sum as salary, which need to be checked immediately,” Mr. Nagarajan said.

Senate members S. Arulmani, T. Murugaraj and K. Thanikasalam, who seconded the adjournment motion, also came down heavily on the managements of the self-financing colleges and the self-supporting courses being offered by the aided colleges, who refused to guarantee better service conditions for their teachers though they had given an undertaking to the MSU to do so before October 31, 2008.

Endorsing the views of the members, Vice-Chancellor, MSU, R.T. Sabapathy Mohan said: “This inhuman act cannot be allowed to continue. The arrangement (giving a decent minimum salary with annual hike) we have now is only a stopgap, which cannot be made permanent. Colleges, which adamantly refuse to ensure better service conditions for their staff will not be pardoned as the proposed committee will monitor them constantly. This adjournment motion is adopted as a resolution of the Senate and will be forwarded to the government”.

Students’ admission

The Vice-Chancellor also said all affiliated colleges should maintain a detailed record on the students’ admissions being made every year so that it would be easy to ascertain whether the college administrations had followed reservation norms.